Once Upon A Time: The Land of Oz
by AncientCrest
Summary: The history of the Merry Old Land of Oz comes to life, but when Once Upon A Time does its' take on the classic tale, nothing is ever as it seems! Explore more of the history, the secrets and the backstory of Oz as Snow White sets off on an adventure to return home. You never know just who might show up next!


The woman stood before the looking glass, gazing into her reflection. She brought her hands down to smooth out the silky material of her wedding dress. The material felt uncomfortable and constricting; she could barely breathe. It was as if her body was begging to be let out.

The bride to be walked over to her boudoir and caught sight of the jeweled tiara that shimmered against the flickering candlelight. She took the tiara and placed it on her head, admiring how perfectly the piece of jewelry fit her. She took her place back at the mirror in the corner of her bedroom, where she inspected her image yet again, making sure that not a single detail of her image was left imperfect. As she continued to stare into her reflection, a frown slowly started to appear across her face. Her heart was filled with great sorrow, as tears began to form in her eyes. She always wanted a happy ending, but this was nothing of what she envisioned.

Even with the smile missing from her face, Regina was still the fairest in the land.

**ONCE UPON A TIME: THE LAND OF OZ**

**Chapter One - It's a Twister!**

Regina took her place behind the wooden door, tightly grasping onto her bouquet of flowers. It was the only thing that she could do to hold onto some tangible aspect of the world and not break down in tears.

A young girl appeared from down the corridor of the palace. There was a light bounce in the young girl's step, a sort of excitement and energy that followed her wherever she seemed to go. The girl's flowing white gown contrasted with her ebony black hair, which framed her face perfectly. The girl was too busy examining the white carnations in her wooden basket to notice Regina. When she first looked up from the basket, she gasped in surprise at her soon-to-be step mother's beautiful appearance.

Snow White approached Regina, a wide smile spreading across her face. "Wow. You look beautiful."

A small smile crept across Regina's face. "Thank you, dear. As do you."

"I'm truly honored to be the flower girl today, just as your mother would have wanted. I know that she would be so happy for you. It's such a shame she couldn't be here."

Regina smiled, "Yes, well, being a former royal still gives my mother her fair share of duties to attend to. I'm sure you'll understand one day, dear."

"I do. She would be so proud of you." Snow replied with a cheeky laugh, before turning away from Regina.

The moment Snow turned around, Regina's smile disappeared from her face.

The girl before her ruined her life, forcing her to live in the unhappiness that seemed to overtake her body. If Snow hadn't told her mother about her secret love, Daniel, a stable boy that worked on their pasture, she wouldn't be getting married to the king now. This was her mother's dream, not hers. Her mother had become so corrupt from power and magic, all she wanted to do was escape. Just earlier that day, she rid her life of her mother by pushing her through a looking glass that sent her to a far-off land. S All she wanted was freedom, but she felt like nothing more than a prisoner.

If Daniel was here, that's all she would ever need. She would have her happiness. Sure, she wouldn't have the lavish life of being a queen, but she never wanted it in the first place. She wanted true love, but now, it was gone.

In that moment, Regina felt a surge of resentment surge through her heart. She had the urge to tightly grasp Snow's neck and strangle the life out of her. She had the desire to hear Snow beg for her life, to grasp for her breath, to see her fall to the ground dead. The doors before them suddenly opened into the large chamber and she was snapped out of her sick fantasy.

With a wide smile on her face, Snow delicately sprinkled the carnations down the aisle. The citizens of the kingdom stared with love and adoration at the young girl, who truly was the perfect princess. Her father, who stood at the end of the altar, stared proudly down the aisle, gazing at his beautiful daughter, who seemed to resemble his first wife more with each passing day.

Regina began her treacherous walk down the aisle, an emotionless expression across her face. She looked throughout the crowd and saw nothing but faces. They were friends and confidants to the king's family, but anonymous to her, complete strangers. The king was no different. She didn't love him. She barely even knew him. She respected him as a just leader and a good man, but that was not enough for her to be happy. She needed love and with the king, there was none.

Her happy ending was gone.

* * *

The kingdom gathered in celebration, to honor the marriage between Leopold and Regina and presented gifts of all sorts before them. In the large entrance hall of the palace, Leopold and Regina sat on their thrones, presented before the entire kingdom.

King Leopold slowly stood from the throne and stepped before his people.

"Thank you. Thank you, all of you. The queen and I appreciate your thoughtful gifts on this most joyous day. Words cannot express how loyal I am to all of you and how much your happiness means to me."

He turned around to face Regina. "But I, too, have a gift for you, Regina."

Regina stuttered, surprised. "Me?"

He concluded, "Yes, they belonged to my late wife, but now, they shall be yours. Come." He directed one of his several servants to come forward with the gift.

The servant approached the altar with a pillow, displaying a pair of beautifully crafted glittering, diamond shoes.

Regina was left breathless. They were truly beautiful. "Jeweled shoes?"

"Yes, they were given to my wife when she was your age and now, they'll be yours. Take great care of them."

Regina looked between the shoes and the king. "Thank you."

She slipped out of her shoes and allowed the servant to help place the jeweled shoes on her feet. The diamonds of the shoes glistened and shimmered throughout the room and seemed to match her wedding gown perfectly.

"Like you, Regina, these slippers truly are beautiful."

The kingdom applauded as the king leant down to place a kiss upon Regina's lips. For a brief moment, Regina almost felt like pulling back and turning away, but she knew that she couldn't. She closed her eyes and allowed the kiss to happen, feeling a knot form in her stomach as it did. She knew that when the king had kissed her, she had not kissed him back. She only hoped that the king would not have noticed or cared.

Sadly, he did.

* * *

Days had passed since the wedding and Regina's sadness only increased. For the most past, she secluded herself to her bed chamber. She barely spoke to the king when they were together and there was no sort of intimacy between the two. While the kingdom believed the two to be happily married, Regina knew otherwise.

She let out a low sigh, bringing up her old engagement ring to her lips, contemplating how her life could become so dreadful within a matter of days.

"What's the matter, dearie? I thought you'd be happy proclaiming your true love with the king." Rumplestiltskin appeared behind her, a wide, mocking grin across his face.

"And what do you know about love," Regina muttered.

He let out a childish giggle. "Not quite as much as you, but not as little as you might think."

Regina sneered, "Is this why you're here? To relish in my suffering? To take pride in my unhappiness?"

"Of course not, dearie."

"Well, then why are you here?" She turned his back on him and stormed off to the opposite side of the bed chamber.

Rumplestiltskin turned and slowly followed her. "I'm here to lend a helping hand – to help a desperate soul along their way."

"The last time I turned to you for help, I ended up without a mother."

He let out another giggle. "And look how much better of you are now. You are free to escape at last without dear, old mommy watching over your shoulder. You can thank me for it later."

"Free to leave? You make that sound so easy." Her voice cracked. "I might be the queen, but in this kingdom, I'm still nothing. I have nothing to escape to."

Rumplestiltskin made a mockingly sad face.

Regina shook her head. "No, you can't help me now."

"Oh, but I can."

Regina raised an eyebrow and looked at him curiously. "How?"

"What do you say we make a deal?" He replied with a grin.

"And what do you want?"

He let out a laugh and playfully twiddled his fingers together. "Let's see, let's see, let's see. What shall it be? Hmm…those slippers of yours."

Regina's eyes narrowed. "The slippers?"

"But of course, dearie."

"And what would you want with them? They're just a pair of shoes."

He leaned in closer to her. "My, my, my dearie, you really are clueless to the world of magic, aren't you? Those slippers of yours are a passageway to many different lands – to any and all realms. Their power lies dormant, hidden away inside of them, but with a click of your heels, you can be anywhere."

Regina stared at him in disbelief. "They're…magic?"

"Indeed. Many years ago, a fairy forged them from the most powerful fairy dust known to man or beast. They give the wearer the power to traverse between realms with any step they take."

"And what could you possibly want with them," she questioned.

"I need them to get to a land without magic, a land where I am searching for something important that was once lost to me." His lips formed into a grin. "So, what do you say, dearie? You give me those slippers and I can grant any request of yours. Do we have a deal?"

Regina sighed. "And what if I wanted to make use of these slippers?"

His voice squeaked. "You? Aside from flaunting the shoes of a dead woman, what use do you have of them?"

A sparkle began to illuminate in Regina's eyes. "They could be the solution to my unhappiness. What if they could take me some place far away – somewhere isolated, where I can never be hurt? What if they can lead me away from this wretched life of mine!? What if I can start a new life?"

"What's the matter? The life of being queen ain't all that it's cracked up to be? Willing to start over new and find a new place? What's wrong with the palace, dearie? I've heard there's no place like home!"

Regina scoffed, "I've told you. Stuck in this place with the king and his perfidious daughter is more than I can bear! The kingdom honors me because they have to, not because they want to. To them, I'm just an asset to the king. It's like I'm not even a person."

Rumplestilskin sighed, "Dearie, let's think this through. I can give you anything your heart desires."

"My heart desires freedom…and that's something only I can find." She lowered her head and sighed, "But it seems that we are both out of luck, as the slippers are no longer mine."

"Eh…what?"

"I gave them away, back to the kingdom." Regina replied simply. "They can be anybody's now."

Rumple's face contorted in anger, as his voice rose. "How dare you. Those slippers were to be used to help me!"

A slow smile spread across Regina's face. "Well, how unfortunate they weren't given to you as a gift. It's a shame though. You'd look quite good in them."

"Well, dearie, enjoy searching for that happy life you're so eager to find. It'll be one hell of a journey." In a puff of red smoke, Rumplestiltskin disappeared from her bed chamber.

When Regina was certain that Rumplestiltskin was gone, she quickly crept over to her boudoir and opened one of the drawers. From inside, the pulled out the pair of jeweled slippers and examined them with a small smile.

"An escape…"

* * *

Regina proceeded down the hall of the palace and approached a door on the opposite side of the corridor. She stood in front of the door for a moment, looking down at the slippers in her hands. She looked back up at the door and knocked.

She heard Snow White's muffled voice from behind the door. "You can come in."

Regina entered into Snow White's bed chamber with the slippers behind her back. "Hello, dear."

"Regina, what are you doing here?" She got up from her bed and approached her step-mother.

Regina revealed the slippers from behind her back and presented them to Snow. "I've come bearing gifts."

When Snow realized that Regina was talking about the slippers, she gasped and shook her head. "Oh no, father gave them to you. They're yours to keep. You should have them."

Regina placed her hand on her step-daughter's shoulder. "Snow, please. These shoes belonged to your mother. How could I take them when they should be yours? Please Snow, take them."

"Are you certain?" Snow questioned.

"Of course, dear." A smile stretched across her face. "Think of it as a present to my new step-daughter."

Snow looked down at the shoes and then back up at Regina, throwing her arms around the woman. "Thank you…so much!"

Regina let out a small laugh. "Well, go on. Try them on."

Snow set the shimmering slippers on the floor and slid her feet into them. "They're a little big, I think," she said with a small chuckle.

"I'll help you." Regina knelt down and fastened the straps of the shoes, making them more secure around Snow's feet.

Snow looked down at the slippers and smiled. "They look beautiful." She let out a small giggle and twirled around, admiring the way the shoes glimmered with every step she took. She stopped and tapped the shoes together.

"They really do look magical!"

Regina noticed then, the color of the shoes began to change. She smirked lightly, "Yes, they do."

The shimmers of the slippers grew intensely and soon they silver color of the shoes turned to a dark ruby color.

Snow looked down at the new coloring of the slippers. "What? How did-"

She was stopped by a sudden tremble which seemed to shake the entire palace. Snow struggled to keep her balance, but the trembles of the quake only grew more intense. She was brought down to her knees. "What's happening?!"

A sudden gust of wind was brought through the balcony opening of her bedroom chamber. When Snow got back up on her feet, the wind was so strong that it literally felt as if it was pushing her. The wind seemed to wrap around her, as if it was carrying her. It swirled and spun around her as a sort of funnel appeared. Before she knew it, she was being swept off her feet.

"Regina! Help!" She called out to her step-mother, extending her hand forward, but before she knew it, she couldn't see past the strong gusts of wind.

Regina stared, a small smile appearing on her face, as the small funnel proceeded out of the balcony, out of the bedroom chamber.

"Goodbye, Snow White."

The funnel cloud stretched and expanded, turning into a cyclone that ripped throughout the Enchanted Forest. Trees and various pieces of the earth that were ravaged by the cyclone were swept into the funnel. The cyclone ravaged through the Never-Ending Forest, as the storm raged on.

Snow let out a cry before everything went black.

* * *

Snow slowly opened her eyes. Her head felt heavy and even moving slightly seemed to be painful. When she remembered about the cyclone, she shot up, but instantly regretted doing so. Her head stung and her vision felt blurred.

Things slowly came into focus, giving the young girl an opportunity to see her surroundings for the first time. She found herself sitting underneath a large mushroom. She got up to her feet and looked around, spotting a small village that seemed to be shrunken down in size. Beautiful plants and flowers decorated the village and a flowing river seemed to travel throughout it, expanding off towards the various mountains in the distance. The place looked beautiful.

Snow's eyes widened, "Where…where am I?"


End file.
